Lafayette Weather – Windy And Cold For Mardi Gras

The only saving grace about the forecast for this Mardi Gras versus last year's Mardi Gras is the fact that we don't have ice forming on bridges and roadways this years. Other than that, we're pretty much in for a repeat of what we had with last year's bitterly cold Fat Tuesday celebration.

Chances are if you went out for lunch yesterday around noon, you were in your shirt sleeves and quite comfortable. My how things changed in the course of a few hours yesterday. The balmy midday temperatures were now quite frigid with significant amounts of falling precipitation all across Acadiana.  That's how quickly that cold front moved through the area and how quickly the temperatures dropped.

Last night's Festival de Mardi Gras a Lafayette presentation had to be cancelled because of weather. Queen Evangeline's parade rolled through town to smaller than average crowds who were bundled up and shielded against the rain.

Here's the way Mardi Gras is shaping up weather wise across Acadiana. Temperatures will be in the mid to low 30's for the early part of the morning. There will be a strong northerly breeze that will make the feels like temperature in the middle 20's for the early part of the day.

By 10am when the first parade begins to roll in Lafayette you can expect temperatures to be slightly warmer but not by much. The wind will lay down just a little as well however wind chill temperatures will still be in the mid to upper 20's through the early afternoon hours. There could be a peek or two of sunshine later in the day but that is not likely nor is it likely that it will have much of an effect on parade conditions.

The bottom line is dress for windy, wet , and cold conditions along the parade routes in Acadiana today.